The State of Spanish University-Business Cooperation Report (University Perspective)

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Study on the cooperation between
higher education institutions and
public and private organisations
State of University-
Business Cooperation
SPAIN
University Perspective

The State of Spain University-Business Cooperation: the university perspective
Partners
Authors: Victoria Galán Muros, Todd Davey, Pablo D'Este, Arno Meerman, Balzhan Orazbayeva, María
Paula Troutt and Mihai Melonari.
For further information about the State of European University-Business Cooperation project, national
reports or the Global Engagement Monitor, please contact Tod d Dav ey ( davey@uiin.org) or Arno
Meerman (meerman@uiin.org)
2

3

Executive summary
Summary
This report seeks to contribute to our
understanding of the higher education institution’s
(HEI) perspective of university-business cooperation
(UBC).Examining the perceptions of academics, HEI
managers and knowledge transfer professionals
(KTP) provides positive signs for the future, with
99%of all respondents currently cooperating with
businesses planning to maintain or increase their
cooperation in the future.Yet, more can be done,
for example, in supporting academics in their
cooperation efforts, including the development of
incentive and performance measurement systems
in UBC.
About the study
The results presented in this report reflect the
perceptions of academics, HEI managers and KTP in
Spain with respect to cooperation between HEIs
and business.Data was collected through an online
survey distributed via email to all registered
European HEIs in 33 countries during October-
November 2016,leading to atotal of 1537 Spanish
HEI responses.The study measured the perceptions
of respondents with respect to their cooperation
efforts, barriers, drivers, support mechanisms and
perceived capabilities.
Few academics cooperate with business
Academics responding to this survey are involved in
avariety of different cooperation types, but their
general involvement is low.
Mobility of students, joint R&D and consulting to
business emerge as the most prevalent activities.
More than 75%of academics do not undertake UBC
activities in the valorisation or management
domains.Particularly low are the activities of
mobility of staff and R&D commercialisation.
Academics see themselves as proactive initiators of
UBC, with almost half of them stating that they
usually or always initiate such cooperation.On the
contrary, they perceive that external intermediaries
and students are those stakeholders that less often
initiate UBC.
The cooperation of Spanish HEIs tends to be with
medium-sized and large companies located in their
region.
Lack of resources hinders UBC
Independent of whether academics are currently
cooperating with business or not, lack of resources,
insufficient funding and bureaucratic procedures
are perceived as the primary barriers to UBC.
Cooperating academics stress funding problems to
agreater extent, while non-cooperating academics
emphasise cultural factors such as differing
motivations between businesses and universities
and the business’ lack of awareness of university
research activities.
Aligned with the academic perception, barriers
most strongly perceived by Spanish HEI
representatives also relate to lack of funding,
differing motivations and the business’ lack of
awareness.
4
NOTE:This report provides a
university perspective on
university-business cooperation
(UBC),drawing on asurvey of
European higher education
institutions, academics and
businesses.While acknowledging
limitations relating to the
generalisability of the results due
to the size and non-random
nature of the sample, the results
provide positive signs both of the
present and for the future, while
also providing an indication of
areas that require future
development.

Executive summary
Relationship is key
While funding to undertake cooperation emerges as
one of the top five UBC facilitators, relationship
related factors emerge as the most prominent ones.
The existence of mutual commitment, mutual trust
and ashared goal facilitate and thus drive
cooperation.Cooperating academics also highlight
the business interest in accessing scientific
knowledge as afacilitator and HEI representatives
recognise the importance of aprior relation with the
business partner.These results confirm that any
effort dedicated to enable and increase cooperation
between Spanish businesses and universities should
focus on relationship development as asuccess
factor.
Cooperate to benefit others
While cooperating academics highlight research
motivations, such as gaining new insights and using
it in practice, academics not cooperating are
motivated by the willingness to contribute to the
mission of the university and improve graduate
employability. However, both coincide in addressing
societal challenges and issues as an important
motivator.HEI managers are motivated to undertake
UBC mainly to positively impact society and to
obtain financial resources. Improving the university’s
reputation also emerges as amotivator.
In general, motivations involving benefits for other
stakeholders hold great importance for all HEI
respondents.
Lack of incentives and recognition
The level of development of UBC supporting
mechanisms in Spanish HEIs is similar to the
European one.
High-level strategic developments such as top-level
management commitment for UBC and a
documented mission or vision embracing UBC are
perceived as the most developed.Contrary, specific
incentive and recognition systems and the reduction
of teaching time in exchange for extended
cooperation emerge as the least developed.
Career offices and agencies dedicated to UBC are
also perceived as well developed structures.
Operational mechanisms are student-focused and IP
legislation as well as regional innovation policies
hold great importance within Spanish HEIs.
Positive attitude and focus on research
Spanish academic respondents who already
collaborate with business have apositive view of
their abilities and roles in undertaking UBC.They
identified their strengths in the research area and
they believe it is university’s role to collaborate with
business. However, they perceive they have
insufficient support to undertake UBC.
Spanish academics seem to be satisfied with the
joint activities with businesses in research, however
the education-related UBC has significantly lower
satisfaction rates, which corresponds to European
average.
5

Study Objectives
The specific objectives for the study
are:
•Chart the current state of play and
provide an in-depth analysis of UBC
in the countries covered by this
study, from the HE and business
perspectives
•Deliver 50 case studies of UBC
(representative sample, balanced
distribution among countries and
organisations, balanced distribution
of HEI and business led cases);
•Review indicators measuring UBC
and propose possible scenarios for
the implementations of UBC
monitoring in Europe;
•Provide policy conclusions and
recommendations for the furthering
of UBC and the best approaches to
take.
Introduction
About the study
The study focusses on the cooperation between
higher education institutions (HEIs) and public and
private organisations in the 28 European Union
Member States and 5associated countries.
The State of European university-business
cooperation (UBC) study is executed for the DG
Education and Culture at the European Commission
(EAC/10/2015)by aconsortium led by the Science-
to-Business Marketing Research Centre (S2BMRC),
in Germany from January 2016 until November
2017.
The aim of the study is to get amore profound,
comprehensive and up to date understanding of the
state of UBC in Europe:what is the state of play of a
wide range of UBC activities in the different
countries, what are the main drivers and barriers for
the different stakeholders and at what levels;what is
the regulatory framework and socio-economic
conditions and what kind of measures/initiatives
exist on anational level to support the development
of UBC.The project investigates UBC from the
perspective of both university and business.
Main activities
The main components of the project were aseries of
expert interviews with 23 recognised UBC experts,
51 good practice case studies, aUBC policy and
indicators review as well as amajor quantitative
survey of stakeholders within both HEIs and
business.The survey was translated into 25
languages and sent to all registered European HEIs
(numbering over 3,000)in the 33 countries during
October-November 2016.Through this, afinal
sample of 17,410 representatives from within HEIs
and business was achieved.This makes the study the
largest international study into cooperation between
HEIs and business yet completed.
Why care about university-business cooperation?
•UBC is consider to be the engine towards
knowledge-based societies and economies
•UBC is specially needed in the European context,
threaten by increased global competition, with
ongoing economic and social problems and high
levels of youth unemployment
•UBC helps to create amore connected and
functioning relationship between government,
business and HEIs, which is at the core of EU
funding schemes, such as Horizon 2020 and
Erasmus+.
•UBC direct outcomes include:
-improving the competitiveness of business,
-increasing the relevance and innovativeness of
research and teaching in HEIs,
-improving the future job prospects of students
and graduates,
which can in the longer term:
-create jobs,
-stimulate economic growth,
-increase living standards,
-reduce hindrances to good living.
6

UBC Ecosystem Framework ™
In order to best organise the
project results, aproject
conceptual framework was
chosen.
The UBC Ecosystem Framework
possess anumber of interrelated
elements including the process of
undertaking UBC, factors that are
influencing UBC, mechanisms
supporting UBC and finally the
context in which UBC occurs.
The framework ties together the
respective project activities,
providing acommon thread for
reporting results and making
recommendations.
UBC activities
Source: Galán-Muros, V.; Davey, T. (2017) The UBC Ecosystem: Putting together a
comprehensive framework for university-business cooperation. Journal of
Technology Transfer. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10961-017-9562-3
7

UBC Activities
Area
Activity
Education
1.
curriculum co-design
2.
curriculum co-delivery (e.g. guest lectures)
3.
mobility of students (i.e. student internships/placements)
4.
dual education programmes (i.e. part theory, part practical)
5.
lifelong learning for people from business (e.g. executive education,
industry training and professional courses)
Research
6.
joint R&D (incl. joint funded research)
7.
consulting to business (incl. contract research)
8.
mobility of professionals (i.e. temporary mobility of academics to business
and vice versa)
Valorisation
9.
commercialisation of R&D results (e.g. licencing/patenting)
10.
academic entrepreneurship (e.g. spin offs)
11.
student entrepreneurship (e.g. start-ups)
Management
12.
governance (e.g. participation of academics on business boards and
businesspeople participation in university board)
13.
shared resources (e.g. infrastructure, personnel, equipment)
14.
industry support (e.g. endowments, sponsorship and scholarships)
Fourteen UBC activities are recognised and categorised into the areas of
education, research, valorisation and management.
8

Overall, UBC activities are significantly
less developed for Spanish academics
than for their European counterparts.
Spanish academics most commonly
engage with business in mobility of
students (2.7), collaboration in R&D
(2.6) and consulting (2.4). However,
almost 70%of them do not engage in
these activities.
The further UBC education and
research activities are less developed.
Additionally,the development of UBC
management and valorisation activities
is particularly low.More than 75%of
Spanish academics are not engaged in
these activities at all.
Development of UBC activities
The extent of development of UBC activities
‘Which UBC activities do you collaborate with businesses in?’ – as answered by academics
75,7%
76,4%
83,2%
78,9%
79,2%
83,1%
82,7%
71,0%
69,9%
77,5%
77,6%
79,3%
78,1%
69,4%
10,2%
9,4%
8,0%
9,4%
8,6%
9,0%
8,7%
9,3%
7,8%
8,6%
8,7%
9,2%
7,9%
6,6%
9,6%
9,7%
4,5%
7,2%
7,6%
5,6%
6,1%
10,1%
11,3%
7,3%
8,0%
7,0%
8,4%
12,0%
4,5%
4,5%
4,3%
4,5%
4,6%
2,3%
2,4%
9,6%
11,0%
6,6%
5,7%
4,5%
5,6%
11,9%
industry s upport
shared resources
gove rnance
student entrepreneurship
acad emic entre pre neurs hip
commer cialisation of R&D results
mobility of staff
consulting
collaboration in R&D
lifelong learning
curriculum co-delivery
curriculum co-design
dual education progr ammes
mobility of stud ents
x,x
European
average
2.
2
2.
2
2.
5
2.
2
3.
1
2.
8
% of respondents
9
Not at all
0
Low
1 - 4
Medium
5 - 7
High
8 -10
Management Valorisation Research Education
Spanish
AVE.
European
AVE.
2,7 5.6
2,0 3.6
1,8 3.6
2,0 4.3
2,1 3.6
2,6 5.4
2,4 4.8
1,6 2.8
1,6 3.0
1,9 3.0
1,9 3.1
1,7 3.1
2,0 3.0
2,0 3.6

10%
13%
7%
10%
2%
9%
17%
1%
22%
28%
19%
25%
22%
30%
38%
13%
40%
38%
40%
40%
48%
34%
29%
37%
25%
20%
31%
20%
25%
25%
14%
33%
3%
1%
3%
4%
3%
3%
2%
15%
Government
Exte rnal inter mediarie s
Internal in termediarie s
University management / leadership
Busines s (excluding alumni)
Alumn i (form er students)
Current students
Myself or an academic colleague
Never Seldom Sometimes Usually Alw ays
Almost half (48%) of Spanish academics
consider that they themselves or their
colleagues always or usually initiate
UBC.
External intermediaries (34%) along
with government, alumni and business
(all with 28%) are also considered
initiators most times.
Contrary,academics perceive that
current students are those
stakeholders that less often initiate
UBC.
Initiation of UBC
How UBC is initiated
‘How often various stakeholders initiate UBC activities’ – as answered by academics
% of respondents
10

49%
31%
11%
10%
1-2
3-4
5-10
mo re t han 10
Location of cooperating partners
Number of business partners
80%of Spanish academics cooperate with 1
to 4businesses.The remaining 20%have
partner relations with 5or more partners.
% of respondents
Location of business partners
11
18%
11%
13%
20%
15%
16%
22%
31%
25%
24%
31%
30%
16%
12%
16%
business located outside your country
business located in your country
business located in your region
Not at all To a mini mum exte nt To a moderate exte nt To a sign fic ant exte nt To a large exte nt
% of respondents
Academics in Spain undertake significant to high
levels of cooperation with regional businesses
(46%). However, collaboration with national and
international businesses is not far behind with
43%and 40%respectively.Only 18%do not
collaborate with international businesses at all.

Academics in Spain collaborate in a
greater extent with businesses of a
medium or large size.45%of them
engage to asignificant or large extent
with these cooperating partners.
The cooperation is reduced to 32%
with small and micro-sized businesses
and to 25%with entrepreneurs in the
process of developing abusiness.
Size of cooperating partners
Size of cooperating partner
‘With whom do you collaborate?’ – as answered by academics
% of respondents
12
22%
13%
21%
25%
14%
18%
23%
27%
19%
24%
24%
23%
28%
34%
23%
15%
17%
11%
9%
10%
large business
Medium-sized business
Small and micro-sized business
Ent repr eneu rs in the p rocess o f de velop ing a bu sines s
Not at all To a mini mum exte nt To a moderate exte nt To a sign fic ant exte nt To a large exte nt

This section outlines the extent to
which various factors affect UBC.
Generally, abarrier provides a
hindrance or obstacle to do something.
Drivers comprise facilitators, which
enable or ease the process, and the
motivators, which triggers the starting
of an activity and are often related to
the expected outcome(s).
At the European level, this study has
found that removing abarrier does not
necessarily create UBC but rather it
makes UBC possible. Instead, it is the
facilitators and motivators (drivers)
that initiate UBC.
For example, even when alack of
funds is often named as amajor
barrier to cooperation, the presence of
funds may not be enough for
cooperation to happen if the perceived
facilitators or motivators are not
sufficiently present.
Factors influencing UBC
13

The top five barriers to UBC for Spanish
academics relate to resources,
administrative and cultural issues.
The limited resources of SMEs is
perceived as the most inhibiting factor
for collaborating academics. However
both groups are also significantly
inhibited by the lack of university,
business and government funding.
Additionally, the factors mentioned
only by not collaborating academics are
the differing motivations between two
organisations as well as business’ lack
of awareness of university research
activities.
Cooperating academics are
furthermore also inhibited by
bureaucracy related to UBC.
Barriers hindering UBC
Barriers
What is inhibiting your cooperation with business?’ – as answered by academics
Lack of government funding for UBC
Lack of business funding for UBC
Differing motivation / values between
university and business
Lack of university funding for UBC
Limited resources of SMEs
Lack of university funding for UBC
Lack of business funding for UBC
Lack of government funding for UBC
Bureaucracy related to UBC Business lack awareness of university
research activities / offerings
5.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Academics collaborating with business
Frequent staff turnovers within my
university or the business
Frequent staff turnovers within my university
or the business
Academics not collaborating with
business
Lowest
14

Barriers
‘What is inhibiting your cooperation with business?’ – as answered by academics
4,2
5,3
5,2
5,1
5,1
6,0
5,2
5,1
5,4
5,7
6,7
6,2
6,3
6,0
6,7
6,2
6,5
6,4
6,9
4,4
5,1
5,4
5,6
5,9
6,1
6,1
6,1
6,1
6,5
6,7
6,7
7,0
7,0
7,1
7,3
7,3
7,3
7,4
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Freque nt staff turnovers with in my university or the business
Busines s need for confidentiality
UBC conflicts with my teaching and research responsibilities
No appropriate initial contact person withi n either the university or business
Lack of people with scientific knowledge within business
The foc us o n pr odu cing pr actic al re sult s by busine ss
Differing mode of communication and language between univ ersity and business
Limited absorption capacity of business
Universities lack awareness of opportunities arising from UBC
Difficulty in finding the appropriate collaboration partner
Ins ufficient work tim e allocate d by the univers ity for acad emics´ UBC activitie s
Differing time horizons between university and business
Differing motivation / values between university and business
Busines s lack awareness of university research activities / offering s
Bureaucracy related to UBC
Lack of government funding for UBC
Lack of business funding for UBC
Lack of university funding for UBC
Limited r esources of SMEs
Cooperating academics
in Spain
Cooperating academics
in Europe
Spanish academics perceive most
barriers stronger than their European
counterparts.
In Spain, academics are more hindered
by the limited resources of SMEs and
the lack of university, business and
government funding.
However, the business need for
confidentiality is perceived as slightly
less hindering barriers for Spanish
academics compared to European
average.
For both groups the weakest barrier
relates to the frequent staff turnovers
within university or business.
Barriers hindering UBC
Medium
Low High
None
15

Spanish HEI representatives are
inhibited to engage in UBC by resources
related issues and cultural differences.
The limited resources of SMEs along
with lack of government and business
funding are the major barriers.This is
consistent with the perception of
Spanish academics.
HEI representatives recognise that the
business’ lack of awareness of
university research activities and
differing motivations between
university and business can also
significantly inhibit UBC in Spain.
Barriers hindering UBC
Barriers
‘What is inhibiting your HEI cooperation with business?’ – as answered by HEI representatives
5.
1.
2.
3.
4.
To p 5 B ar r i er s f or H EI r ep r e se n ta t i ve s
Limited resources of SMEs
Lack of government funding for UBC
Lack of business funding for UBC
Business lack awareness of university research activities / offerings
Differing motivation / values between university and business
16

4,1
5,1
4,9
5,2
5,5
5,4
5,7
5,7
6,1
6,4
6,2
5,8
6,5
6,5
6,3
6,3
6,7
6,6
7,4
4,8
5,1
5,5
5,9
6,0
6,1
6,3
6,4
6,4
6,4
6,5
6,5
6,8
6,8
7,0
7,0
7,3
7,3
7,8
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Freque nt staff turnovers with in my university or the business
Busines s need for confidentiality
UBC conflicts with my teaching and research responsibilities
No appropriate initial contact person withi n either the university or business
Universities lack awareness of opportunities arising from UBC
Lack of people with scientific knowledge within business
Differing mode of communication and language between univ ersity and business
Difficulty in finding the appropriate collaboration partner
The foc us o n pr odu cing pr actic al re sult s by busine ss
Ins ufficient work tim e allocate d by the univers ity for acad emics´ UBC activitie s
Bureaucracy related to UBC
Limited absorption capacity of business
Differing time horizons between university and business
Lack of university funding for UBC
Differing motivation / values between university and business
Busines s lack awareness of university research activities / offering s
Lack of business funding for UBC
Lack of government funding for UBC
Limited r esources of SMEs
HEI representatives
in Spain
HEI representatives
in Europe
Barriers hindering UBC
Barriers
‘What is inhibiting your cooperation with business?’ – as answered by academics and HEI
representatives
Medium
Low HighNone
17
Overall, Spanish HEI representatives
perceive barriers stronger than their
European counterparts.
Resources, funding and culture related
factors are the major barriers for both
groups. However, they are more
inhibiting for Spanish HEI
representatives.
The ‘frequent staff turnovers within
the university or businesses’ is one of
the weakest UBC barriers for both
groups.

The main factors that facilitate UBC for
both Spanish academics and HEI
representatives are similar.
The main facilitators focus on the
relationship aspect of UBC, highlighting
the importance of ashared goal,
mutual trust and commitment for
successful UBC.
Both groups also recognise importance
of funding in facilitating cooperation
with businesses.
While interest of business in accessing
scientific knowledge is perceived as
another facilitator by academics, HEI
representatives recognise importance
of aprior relation with the business
partner.
Drivers stimulating UBC
Drivers are those factors that encourage
businesses, academics or HEIs to engage in UBC.
Drivers of UBC are divided into two factors:
1. Facilitators –factors that enable or ease
cooperation
2. Motivators –incentives or benefits that the
respective stakeholders would like from the
cooperation
Toge t her, these two factors provide a
comprehensive picture of what compels businesses
to cooperate.
The 2010-11 State of European UBC study showed
that for European universities the existence of
strong UBC drivers can overcome the presence of
barriers to UBC.
Existence of mutual trust
Existence of mutual commitment
Existence of funding to undertake the
cooperation
Existence of a shared goal
Existence of a shared goal
Existence of mutual trust
Existence of mutual commitment
Existence of funding to undertake the
cooperation
Interest of business in accessing
scientific knowledge Prior relation with the business partner5.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Academics cooperating HEI representatives
Facilitators
‘What is facilitating your cooperation with business?’ – as answered by academics and HEI
representatives
18

European and Spanish perceptions of
UBC facilitators align.Ye t , notably
Spanish academics perceive the drivers
slightly lower than European
academics.
For both groups, the most important
facilitators are those related to the
relationship component of UBC.The
academics highlighted the existence of
ashared goal, trust and commitment
among the most important facilitators
influencing their cooperation with
businesses.
In addition to the relationship
facilitators, the existence of funding
and the interest of business in
accessing scientific knowledge also
play important role for both.
The commercial orientation of the
university emerges as the weakest
facilitator.
Drivers stimulating UBC
Facilitators
‘What is facilitating your cooperation with business?’ – as answered by academics
5,5
5,9
6,3
6,3
7,3
7,5
7,8
7,6
8,0
7,9
5,6
5,8
5,9
6,3
7,2
7,3
7,6
7,7
7,7
7,8
12345678910
Commer cial orientation of the university
Short geographica l distance be tween the two o rga nisation s
Interest of t he un iversity in a ccessing bus in ess-sector R&D f acilities
Scientif ic orientati on of the busin ess
Prior relation with the business partner
Interest of b usines s in a cc essing scie nti fic knowle dg e
Exis tence o f f und ing to und ert ake t he c oop era tion
Exis tence o f mu tual co mmitme nt
Exis tence o f mu tual tru st
Exis tence o f a s hared go al
Cooperating
acad emic s in Spain
Cooperating
acad emic s in Europe
Medium
Low High
None
19

Spanish HEI representatives and their
European counterparts have similar
perceptions of UBC facilitators.
For both groups, the most important
facilitators also relate to the
relationship aspect of UBC.The
existence of trust, ashared goal and
commitment are the most important
drivers facilitating their cooperation
with businesses.This is consistent with
the academic perspective.
The existence of funding to undertake
the cooperation also plays an
important role for HEI representatives .
The interest of the university in
accessing business-sector R&D facilities
is slightly higher for HEI representatives
in Europe than for their counterparts in
Spain, who consider it as the weakest
facilitator.
Drivers stimulating UBC
Facilitators
‘What is facilitating your cooperation with business?’ – as answered by HEI representatives
6,9
6,3
6,5
6,7
7,7
7,7
8,2
8,0
8,0
8,3
6,7
6,8
7,0
7,0
7,9
8,0
8,1
8,2
8,2
8,3
12345678910
Interest of t he un iversity in a ccessing bus in ess-sector R&D f acilities
Short geographica l distance be tween the two o rga nisation s
Commer cial orientation of the university
Scientif ic orientati on of the busin ess
Interest of b usines s in a cc essing scie nti fic knowle dg e
Prior relation with the business partner
Exis tence o f a s hared go al
Exis tence o f f und ing to und ert ake t he c oop era tion
Exis tence o f mu tual co mmitme nt
Exis tence o f mu tual tru st
HEI
representatives
in Spain
HEI
representatives
in Europe
20
Medium
Low High
None

Motivators
‘What motivates you to cooperate with business?’-as answered by academics
Contributes to the mission of the university
Addresses societal challenges and issues
Improves graduate employability
Improves my future research
Gain new insights for research
Addresses societal challenges and
issues
Uses my research in practice
Contributes to the mission of the
university
Obtain funding / financial resources Improves my teaching5.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Academics who cooperate Academics who do not cooperate
Motivators of Spanish academics who
already cooperate with businesses and
motivators of non-cooperating
academics have certain discrepancies.
While cooperating academics highlight
gaining new insights and use it in
practice, non-cooperating academics
rate motivators related to other
stakeholders (e.g. employability of
graduates, societal needs, mission of
the university) more strongly.
Obtaining funding is amotivation only
for the cooperating academics.
Similarly, the motivation to improve
teaching is exclusive for the not
cooperating academics.
Drivers stimulating UBC
21

The perceptions of UBC motivations of
Spanish academics mostly align with
the perceptions of their European
counterparts.
In comparison to the European
average, the motivation to address
societal challenges along with the
willingness to contribute to the
mission of the university are perceived
notably stronger in Spain.
The promotion and reputation related
motivators are the weakest drivers
stimulating UBC for both groups.
Drivers stimulating UBC
Motivators
‘What motivates you to cooperate with business?’-as answered by academics
3,9
4,8
7,1
7,1
7,0
6,5
7,7
7,1
7,8
4,2
4,6
7,0
7,1
7,3
7,4
7,7
7,8
7,8
12345678910
Increa ses my chances of promotio n
Impro ves my r eputation within the university
Impro ves gr aduate e mployability
Impro ves my te achin g
Obtain funding / financial resources
Contributes to the mission of the universi ty
Uses my research in practice
Addresse s so ci etal challe nges an d issu es
Gain new insights for research
Cooperating academics
in Spain
Cooperating academics
in Europe
22
Medium
Low High
None

Drivers stimulating UBC
Spanish HEI representatives are
motivated by the benefits that UBC
can bring to other stakeholders, such
as graduates, society and university.
Additionally, the funding and the
willingness to improve reputation of
university also motivate them to
engage in UBC.
Motivators
‘What motivates your HEI to cooperate with business?’-As answered by HEI representatives
23
Resources
Competitiveness
Research
Competitiveness
Competitiveness5.
1.
2.
3.
4.
To p 5 Mo t iv a ti o n s fo r HE I re p r es e nt at i v es
To positively impact society
To obtain funding / financial resources
To improve graduate employability
To improve the reputation of the university
To contribute to the mission of the university

Spanish and European HEI
representatives perceive motivators
very similarly.
However, the motivation to positively
impact society is perceived stronger in
Spain, while the motivation to improve
university’s teaching is perceived
stronger by European HEI
representatives.
More crucially, for both European and
Spanish HEI representatives all
motivators were are ranked of nearly
equal importance (from 7.4 to 8.2),
which ultimately means that all these
motives have apotential of stimulating
UBC for universities.
Drivers stimulating UBC
Motivators
Medium
Low High
None
‘What motivates your HEI to cooperate with business?’-as answered by HEI representatives
7,7
7,7
7,6
8,0
7,7
7,8
8,1
8,1
7,8
7,4
7,8
7,9
7,9
7,9
7,9
8,0
8,2
8,2
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
To improv e t he u ni vers ity´s tea ching
To gain ne w in si ghts f or res earc h
To addr ess soci etal cha llenge s an d is sues
To use th e un ivers ity´ s re searc h in pr actice
To contr ibute to the missio n of the u niver sity
To improv e t he rep utat ion o f th e unive rsity
To improv e gr aduat e empl oyab ility
To obt ain fun din g / fi nancial re sources
To positive ly imp act s ocie ty
HEI representatives
in Spain
HEI representatives
in Europe
24

Businesses
Universities
Society
Students
Businesses
Universities
Society
Academics
Students Academics5.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Academics HEI representatives
Government / public authorities Government / public authorities6.
Spanish academics and HEI managers
have very similar perceptions about the
stakeholders that benefit from UBC.
Businesses and universities are
perceived by both groups as the
stakeholder groups who benefit the
most from UBC.
Academics perceive their own benefits
higher than the benefits for students
and government.
However HEI representatives see them
as well as Spanish government to get
little benefits from UBC.
Benefits of UBC
Benefits are the perceived positive outcomes
(financial and non-financial) from undertaking UBC
as relevant for the different stakeholder groups
that can potentially participate in UBC.
The perception regarding who benefits from such
cooperation can influence the decision to increase
or decrease their participation or the involvement
of other groups.For example, if academics
perceive their own benefits to be low, they may
refrain from engaging in UBC.Yet, if they perceive
benefits for students to be high, they might
undertake actions that contribute to students’
involvement in UBC.
Benefits
‘Who receives the benefits of UBC?’-as answered by academics and HEI representatives
25

Academics in Europe also show astrong commitment to
UBC.57.4% of cooperating academics expect to increase
their cooperation and only 1.8% plan to decrease their
collaborative activities with businesses.This shows a
positive projection for UBC in Europe.
57,4%
40,8%
1,8%
increase
maintain
decr ease
Future intentions
Spanish academics show avery strong commitment to UBC
as 99%of them expect to increase or maintain their UBC
activities.In this sense, Spain proves to be areceptive
market for UBC, with positive momentum for the future.
Future UBC intentions –SPAIN
As answered by Spanish academics
Future UBC intentions –EUROPE
As answered by European academics
67,1%
31,9%
1,0%
increase
maintain
decr ease
26

The willingness of Spanish cooperating
academics to recommend to a
colleague to engage in UBC highly
varies depending on whether this
cooperation is in research or in
education.
Spanish academics are significantly
more satisfied with UBC in research
than their European counterparts
(NPS=40). While 55%of them will
promote it positively, only 15%would
do it negatively.
Regarding education-related UBC,
Spanish academics are slightly more
satisfied than their European
counterparts, even when none of
them are very satisfied with their
experience (NPS = -5 for Spanish and -
14 for European academics).
Willingness to recommend UBC
Willingness to recommend to an academic colleague
cooperation with business in R&D and education
Satisfaction in cooperation with businesses (net promoter score)
As answered by academics
Detractors
Passives
Promoters
Net promotor score
Academics cooperating in E&T
38%
28%
34%
-5
Academics cooperating in R&D
15%
30%
55%
40
15%
30%
55%
Detractors Passiv es Pr omot ers
40
Academics
cooperating
in research
38%
28%
34%
Detractors Passiv es Pr omot ers
-5
Academics
cooperating
in education
European academics‘ NPS result: 17 European academics‘ NPS result: -13.8
27

Supporting mechanisms are
interventions designed to support
the development of cooperation
between HEIs and business.
There are four types of supporting
mechanisms:
•Policy
•Strategic
•Structural
•Operational
This section outlines the extent to
which UBC supporting mechanisms
are developed in this sample from
the HEI perspective.
At the European level, the extent of
development of all these
mechanisms significantly influences
the extent of cooperation.
Supporting mechanisms for UBC
28

Spanish HEI representatives perceive
policy mechanisms to be developed to
amedium-low level.These perceptions
are very similar to those of their
European counterparts.
IP rights legislation for academic
research discovery (5.9) and regional
innovation policies (5.5) are the most
developed supporting mechanisms,
followed by policies that positively
support creation of new companies
(5.4).
Policies positively supporting research
collaboration between university and
business (5.2) and infrastructure
funding available to support UBC
development (4.7) are less developed
compared to European average.
The least developed mechanisms for
Spanish HEIs related to policies
supporting labour mobility between
universities and business (4.4) and
public seed capital supporting UBC
activities (4.2).
Supporting mechanisms for UBC
Policy mechanisms
‘To what extent do these mechanisms support UBC in your HEI?’ - as answered by HEI representatives
4,2
4,4
4,7
5,2
5,3
5,4
5,5
5,9
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Public seed capital supporting UBC initiatives
Laws / rules / hiring polici es positively supporting labour mobility
between university and business
Inf rastru cture fund ing avai lable to s up port UBC deve lopment
Policies positively supporting research collaboration between
university and business
R&D tax benefits for business
Policies positively supporting the creation of new companies (incl.
acad emic entre pre neurs hip and sta rt-up activiti es)
Regional innovation policies
IP rights legislati on fo r academ ic research discover y
HEI rep resent ativ es
in Spain
HEI representatives
in Europe
x.x
Medium
Low HighNone
29
6.2
5.3
4.6
5.7
5.3
4.6
5.8
5.8

Overall, the development of the
strategic mechanisms in Spanish and
European HEIs is very similar.
The most developed mechanisms are
acommitted top-level management
and adocumented mission/vision
embracing UBC.
Whereas the least developed
strategies are mechanisms related to
the practise of recruiting business
professionals into careers office (4.5)
and the reduction of teaching time
(3.9).
Notably the paper strategies are
substantially more developed than
implementation strategies, showing
the official commitment of Spanish
HEIs to UBC above the actual
dedication of resources.
Supporting mechanisms for UBC
Strategic mechanisms
3,9
4,5
4,7
4,9
4,9
4,9
5,4
5,5
5,6
6,0
6,5
6,8
7,4
12345678910
The red uct ion o f teac hin g time for u nd erta kin g colla bora tio n w ith bus iness
Recognition of academics for their UBC activities (e.g. awards)
The inclu sion o f 'coo pera tion w ith busi ness' as pa rt o f th e assess ment of
wor k pe rform an ce f or acad emi cs
The pr actice of recruitin g bus ines s pro fes sio nals into the ca reers / alumni
office
The pr ovis ion of in centives for acad emics to engag e in UB C
Busines s experience considered in the recruitment of academics
The pr actice of recruitin g bus ines s pro fes sio nals into the know ledge tran sfer
area
The mea surem ent of UBC perf ormanc e a nd ou tputs
The dedi ca tion of res ources (i ncl . fu nding) to sup port UBC
A co ordina ted c om munic atio n app roach for UBC
A strate gy supporting UBC
A do cumen ted mission / vis ion embracin g UBC
A top-l evel manageme nt co mmitted to UBC
Medium
Low High
None
‘To what extent do these mechanisms support UBC in your HEI?’ - as answered by HEI representatives
Implementation strategy in
Spain
Paper strategy in Spain
x.x European average
7.5
7.0
5.9
5.5
5.0
4.0
4.7
4.6
6.7
5.2
5.2
5.2
4.8
30

The development of most structural
mechanisms is slightly higher in
Spanish HEIs than in European HEIs.
Both European and Spanish HEI
representatives indicated the same top
three structural mechanisms.
Overall for both groups bridging
structures and employability/careers
services are the most developed types
of structures supporting UBC in
universities.
Notably the infrastructure related
mechanisms are more developed in
Spain than in Europe.
Supporting mechanisms for UBC
Structural mechanisms
3,9
4,6
5,1
5,2
5,2
5,5
5,5
5,7
6,4
6,8
7,2
12345678910
Adju nct positi on s availa bl e within the univer sity f or busines s people
Ind us try lia ison office
Co-working spaces accessible by business
Lifelong lea rning programmes involving business people
Joint research instit utes
Science / Technology Park pre ci nc ts
Alumn i networks
Incubators
Board member or vice rector positions for UBC
Agen ci es ded ica ted to UBC
Career office(s)
Medium
Low High
None
‘To what extent do these mechanisms support UBC in your HEI?’ - as answered by HEI representatives
Employability and career
Services in Spain
Bridging structures in Spain
External integration
Structures in Spain
Infrastructure in Spain
x.x European average
6.2
5.4
4.9
5.5
4.5
4.8
4.0
5.0
5.9
5.8
6.0
31

Overall, the perspectives of Spanish
and European HEI representatives align
in respect to the development of
operational mechanisms.
Student-centred activities are the most
developed operational mechanisms,
with entrepreneurship courses offered
to students (6.8) and UBC activities
facilitating student interaction with
businesses (6.0) ranked the highest.
Among the activities focused on
academics, networking sessions for
academics to interact with business
people are also well developed (5.7).
Networking activities focused on
academic (5.2) and student networks
(5.1) dedicated to UBC emerge as the
least developed operational
mechanisms for Spanish HEIs.
Supporting mechanisms for UBC
Operational mechanisms
5,1
5,2
5,3
5,3
5,4
5,7
6,0
6,8
12345678910
Student networks dedicated to U BC
Academic networks dedicated to UBC
The featu ring o f UBC pro minent ly o n the univ ers ity´s websi te
Ent repr eneu rshi p co urse s of fere d to aca demic s
Inf or mation sessio ns and foru ms about U BC
Networking sessions or me etings for academics to interact with people
from business
UBC activities facilitating student interaction with business
Ent repr eneu rshi p co urse s of fere d to s tude nt s
Medium
Low High
None
‘To what extent do these mechanisms support UBC in your HEI?’ - as answered by HEI representatives
External communication
Activities in Spain
Networking activities
In Spain
Entrepreneurship activities
In Spain
x.x European average
6.3
6.5
4.8
5.1
5.4
5.2
4.9
4.4
32

Context
The degree to which UBC takes place is
influenced by aset of element present
in the context of the organisation that
cannot be changed in short or medium
term.
These include the characteristics of
individual actors involved, the
institutional factors relating to the
university and business, as well as by a
set of broader environmental factors
(political, economic, social,
technological, etc.).
This section outlines how some
contextual factors influence UBC in the
country.
33

UBC capabilities
Spanish academics identified moderate
capabilities and beliefs about of UBC.
Their perception is similar to the
perception of their European
counterparts.
Spanish academics believe that it is
their role to collaborate with business
in research (4.0). They are furthermore
certain that they have alot to offer to
companies in this field (3.9).
They also believe that generally it is the
role of universities to collaborate with
business (4.0).
Spanish academics however perceive
they have insufficient contacts (2.8),
limited knowledge of business needs
and about UBC in general (2.8) and
insufficient support (2.4) to undertake
UBC, with scores under the EU average.
Strongly
disagree
Disagree Undecided Agree Strongly
agree
Capabilities for UBC
‘To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements?’ - as answered by academics
2,6
3,0
3,1
2,9
3,8
3,7
3,7
3,8
3,7
3,8
2,4
2,8
2,8
2,8
3,9
3,9
3,9
3,9
4,0
4,0
1 2 3 4 5
I have suf ficient sup port to undertak e UBC
I have suf ficient bus in ess contacts and relations that I c ould approach
for collaboration
I have suf ficient knowled ge of wh at busines s need and want
I have suf ficient ski lls and kn owledge o f UBC ge neral ly (including the
procedures and processes)
I have th e capability to tra nsfer / exch ange know ledge and techno logy
to / with business
I have a lot to offer to business in educ ation a nd traini ng
I believe it is the role o f acad em ics to colla borate w ith busi ne ss in
educa tio n and tr ai nin g
I have a lot to offer to business in res earch
I believe it is the role o f unive rsit ies to collabo rate with busin ess
I believe it is the role o f acad em ics to colla borate w ith busi ne ss in
research
Academics in Spain
Academics in Europe
34

The perception of most contextual
factors is more negative in Spain than
in Europe.
Both Spanish and European academics
have however avery positive attitude
towards UBC (4.3).
Thus European academics perceive a
slightly more positive attitude of their
colleagues, HEIs and region towards
UBC than Spanish ones.
Spanish academics perceive contextual
factors in their region as significantly
weaker than their European
counterparts.
Context
Contextual factors affecting UBC
‘To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements?’ - as answered by academics
3,3
3,3
3,3
3,5
3,6
3,1
3,6
3,5
3,7
3,7
3,9
3,8
3,8
4,0
4,0
4,3
2,7
2,8
2,9
3,0
3,1
3,1
3,3
3,3
3,3
3,4
3,6
3,8
4,0
4,1
4,1
4,3
12345
The regi onal bu sin ess se ctor has a stro ng in nova tion profi le
The regi onal ec ono my is str ong
The regi onal bu sin ess se ctor has a po sitive at ti tude towar ds UBC
The re is ge nerally a positive attitu de t owar ds U BC in my regio n
The regi on has a s trong b usin ess sec tor
My university ha s a strong basic research profile
The re a re p ositive UB C r ole models in my res ear ch fie ld
My colleages have a positive attitude towards UBC
The re a re p ositive UB C r ole models at my u niv ersit y
My university ha s a strong applied research profile
My university management has a positive attitude towards UBC
My university ha s a strong engagement profile (i.e. is open to…
I have a s trong research pro file
My university ha s a strong education profile
I have a s trong educatio na l profile
I have a p ositive attitu de towards UBC
Cooperating
acad emic s in Spain
Cooperating
acad emic s in Europe
Strongly
disagree
Disagree Undecided Agree Strongly
agree
35

36
Respondent profile –academics
Assistant professors (32%) and
researcher and lecturers (26%) comprise
the largest groups, followed by
professors (14%). The remaining
academics identified themselves as
associate professors (10%), lecturers
(9%), PhD students (7%) and researchers
(2%).
Position of respondent
2%
7%
9%
10%
14%
26%
32%
Assis tant Professor
Researcher & lecturer
position
Professor
Associate Profes sor
Lecturer (only teaching
duties)
PhD Student
Researcher (only
research duties)
Athird of the academics (33%) in the
sample are between 40 and 49.Other
significant groups are those aged 50-59
(28%) and 30-39 (22%), followed by
those aged 20-29 (6%). Academics
older than 60 are 11%.
The gender distribution in the
Romanian academic sample is almost
even with 55%male and 45%female
respondents.
55%
45% Male
Female
6%
22%
33%
28%
10% 1%
70 +
60 - 69
50 - 59
40 - 49
30 - 39
20 - 29
Gender of respondents
Age of respondents

Respondent profile –academics
Over athird (35%) of academics in the Spanish sample
work for small HEIs (under 9,999 students) and 29%of
them work for medium-large HEIs (20,000 to 49,999
students).19%works for medium-sized HEIs and 17%
for very large HEIs with over 50,000 students.
Number of students of the HEI
13%
22%
19%
29%
17%
1 - 1,999
2,000 - 9,999
10,000 - 19,999
20,000 - 49,999
50,000+
37
Sample Size
Spanish Academics n=1191
European Academics n=10.836
Spanish HEI representatives n=346
European HEI representatives n=3.482

Respondent profile –academics
Yea rs w or ki ng i n bu si ne ss Yea rs i nv ol ve d in U BC w hi ls t
working at a university or business
Yea rs w or ki ng i n un ive rsi ty
Most academic respondents have
worked in academia for several years.
Two thirds of them have worked in
academia for over 10 years.17%have
5-10 years of experience and 11%have
worked in academic for 2-5 years. 5% of
the academics have less than 2year of
experience.
Over two thirds of the Spanish
academic respondents have worked in
business before.19%of them have
done so for 2to 5years.An even
proportion (11%) have 5to 10 years
and 10 to 20 years industry experience.
Only 4% have worked in business for
over 20 years.
More than half of the respondents in
Spain have some UBC experience.
Although only 6% have been involved in
UBC for over 20 years, 22%have 5to 20
years of experience, whereas 30%have
1to 5years of experience. 42%of
academics in the sample have never
engaged in UBC.
2% 3%
11%
17%
28%
38%
20 +
10 to <20
5 to <10
2 to <5
1 to <2
0 to <1
30%
11%
8%
19%
13%
11%
8%
20 +
10 to <20
5 to <10
2 to <5
1 to <2
0 to <1
0
42%
7%
9%
14%
12%
10%
6%
20 +
10 to <20
5 to <10
2 to <5
1 to <2
0 to <1
0
38

39
Respondent profile –HEI representatives
Position of respondent
Spanish HEI representatives hold avariety of positions. A
third of them are heads of department/school, followed by
technology transfer professionals and vice-rectors or vice-
presidents (20% each). Other positions represented in the
sample are member of the senior university management,
rector or president and fundraising officer among others.
Overall, almost one third (32%) of HEI representatives work
for large HEIs (over 20,000 students).42%of them work in
small HEIs (under 9,999 students) and the remaining 25%
works in medium-size HEIs.
Number of students of the HEI
18%
24%
25%
24%
8%
1 - 1,999
2,000 - 9,999
10,000 - 19,999
20,000 - 49,999
50,000+
0,3%
0,9% 1,2%
1,6%
1,9%
2,8%
8,4%
10,2%
19,6%
20,2%
32,9%
Head of department / school
Techn olo gy Tr ansf er
Professional
Vice-rector / Vice president /
Deputy vice chancellor
Member of the senior
university manag ement
Rector / President / Vice
chancellor
Fundraising Offic er
Career Services Officer
Liaison / Engag ement Officer
Ent re pren eur shi p
Professional
Busines s Development
Manager / Officer
Lifelong Learning Officer

40

Contact us
Todd Davey - davey@uiin.org
Arno Meerman - meerman@uiin.org
This report is part of the DG Education and Culture study
on the University-Business Cooperation in Europe:
drivers, challenges and opportunities in Europe
EAC/10/2015.Further information can be found at
www.ub-cooperation.eu
This report is also part of the Global University-Business
Monitor initiative, a global study into university
engagement and cooperation between university and
business.Further information can be found at
www.uni-engagement.com